In the processing and manufacturing industry, plastic is one of the most popular materials used due to its versatility. This is because plastic tends to be much more malleable as well as an economical option when compared to materials such as glass or even metal. As such, you could consider numerous different methods when it comes to plastic fabrication. Below are a couple of the different methods that you could choose when contemplating plastic fabrication.

Welding

Most people are familiar with metal welding. Plastic welding uses the same principle, which is the heating of materials in order to melt it and form different workable pieces of material. Welding is an ideal option for plastic fabrication when working with thermoplastics, as these do not respond well when it comes to adhesive binding of the plastic materials. With plastic welding, the different pieces that you will be working with are fused together by using a filler, which is placed between them. This is especially convenient if you are working with plastics that have varying melting points.

Plastic welding can be carried out using various techniques with some of the more popular options include the use of vibrations at a high frequency, the use of hot gas or spinning of the material. It should be noted that the machinery that will be used for plastic welding would largely depend on the type of plastic being used as well as the preferred technique for plastic fabrication.

Compounding

This type of plastic fabrication is also referred to as blending. It entails the combining of multiple plastic materials to form an amalgam that will then be used to curate a singular piece of plastic. To achieve this, the process will involve the use of molten plastic at varying specifications, which are then formed into your preferred shape. This method of plastic fabrication is popular because it enhances the processing of plastic materials to make the most of the performance of the product.

The principle behind this is that it can combine plastics that offer different advantages as well as disadvantages to creating a product that will be complementary to the application that you would want to use it for. Some of the popular applications of compounding plastic fabrication include the curation of polymer fillers, purge compounds, base resins, flame retardants and more. Compounding also ensures decreased waste of plastic materials as you can reuse lower quality plastic by blending it with higher quality plastic materials.